Population: The Last Taboo

Mother Jones by Julia Whitty | May. 13, 2010 (Special Report)
What unites the Vatican, lefties, conservatives, environmentalists, and scientists in a conspiracy of silence? Population.

The only known solution to ecological overshoot is to decelerate our population growth faster than it's decelerating now and eventually reverse it—at the same time we slow and eventually reverse the rate at which we consume the planet's resources. Success in these twin endeavors will crack our most pressing global issues: climate change, food scarcity, water supplies, immigration, health care, biodiversity loss, even war. On one front, we've already made ... Full Story »

Posted by Kaizar Campwala - via Tiffany Hebb (f), Kaizar Campwala (f), David Fox (f), Gian Antelles (f), Subramanya Sastry (f), Joey Baker (f), Ish Harshawat (f), Fabrice Florin (f), Steven K Samra (f), Shams Kazi (f)

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Subjects: World, Politics, Sci/Tech, Living, Religion
Topics: Environment, India, Religion and Politics, Food, Population, Climate Change
Member Tags: Ecology
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# Diggs: 20 (as of 2010-05-15)
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Posted by: Posted by Kaizar Campwala - May 10, 2010 - 8:31 AM PDT
Reviewed by: Kaizar Campwala (review), Patricia L'Herrou (review), Dwight Rousu (review), Tanya J. Maurer (review), Robb Drinkwater (review), Warrior Wheatman (review)
Content Type: Article
Edit Lock: This story can be edited
Edited by: Dwight Rousu - May 14, 2010 - 12:19 PM PDT
Related Comments: Climate Change (9)

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Patricia L'Herrou
4.7
 by Patricia L'Herrou - May. 13, 2010

in this very powerful in-depth treatise, this writer explores and explains the burden of overpopulation of our globe, including the paradox of the most effective means to meaningful change. the complexities and players on the world stage of this issue discussed here illustrate how and why it has been so difficult to address. my only nitpick is that the author's described personal journey could have been shortened for this article. i recommend this highly

See Full Review » (18 answers)
Dwight Rousu
4.8
 by Dwight Rousu - May. 15, 2010

Beautifully written in places. Recommended reading on a subject critical for the ecosystem and life as we know it. A bit long, but worth it.

If you calculate from the numbers here, earth's human population needs to decrease by 30% to maintain a sustainable ecosystem. Let us at least initially stop the growth! On of my favorite heroes, 2 score years ago, was an exiled Scottish priest who was promoting active birth control in the Philippines.

we first overdrew our accounts in 1983, when our population of nearly 4.7 billion began to consume natural resources faster than they could be replenished—a phenomenon ... More »

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Tanya J. Maurer
4.6
 by Tanya J. Maurer - May. 16, 2010
See Full Review » (10 answers)
Kaizar Campwala
4.5
 by Kaizar Campwala - May. 14, 2010
Kaizar posted this story.
See Full Review » (8 answers)
Warrior Wheatman
4.7
 by Warrior Wheatman - May. 30, 2010
See Full Review » (18 answers)
Robb Drinkwater
4.8
 by Robb Drinkwater - May. 23, 2010

I applaud this author taking on.... what she says in her own article and alludes to in the title... a difficult social subject. It is something we all need to consider. And more people should write about.

See Full Review » (11 answers)

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